The Sizes of Orifice Reducers

Have you ever gotten an essential oil out to put a couple drops in the diffuser and they just come spilling out? Or they take . . . For. Ever. There is a reason for that and it has everything to do with the size of orifice reducers being used.

What is an orifice reducer?

Orifice reducers are what help to keep air out of the essential oil bottles and also can regulate how fast or slow essential oil comes out of the bottle. It is very important to make sure you have the right size of reducer in the various essential oil bottle you pour from.

If you do not have the right size, you could end up with citrus oils that pour out too fast when you are using the essential oil or too slow if you are using a thicker oil like myrrh or vetiver. Keep in mind, the thicker oils can become thicker with age/oxidation so those will begin to pour even slower over time. However, upon initial purchase of your bottle, make sure you check your orifice reducers.

Another tidbit to keep in mind is that if your orifice reducers are too big, you may be using your essential oils much faster and getting a higher "dose" than what you really need to be.

Benefits of using the right size:

Paraphrased, the benefits of using the right size reducers are:

Most of the time, essential oil drops will come out in a steady flow versus to fast or too slow.

You will use less essential oil than you need.

What to do if your oil pours too quickly or too slow:

If your essential oil pours too quickly or too slowly, there are a few things you can do. The easiest is to find a small business that sells the various sizes of orifice reducers to replace the ones you struggle with.

Another means of making sure you are not over using or are getting enough is to either stick a disposable pipette tip in the orifice reducer and siphon essential oil into the pipette. Just make sure you use gloves if you do this, the first time I tried it, the oils came out onto my skin undiluted!

You can also temporarily remove the orifice reducer to siphon essential oils into the pipette directly from the bottle. Doing it this way does increase the risk of contamination of your essential oils, so always ensure your work space is as clean as possible.

What size orifice reducers does Be Kind Botanicals use?

We use four different sizes depending on the viscosity of the oil. For our very light essential oils, like the citruses, we us a small with a .55 mm hole. For our some of our heavier oils like Alligator Juniper and Patchouli we us a medium sized reducer with a .85 mm hole. Then we have a larger one for oils like Sandalwood that has a 1 mm hole. Then for oils like Myrrh and Vetiver we use an extra large reducer with a 1.15 hole.

As you can tell, we do not follow a one size fits all rule. Essential oils are as different as we are as individuals. The size of the orifice reducer does matter as you can tell and there are benefits to using the correct one.

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While there are claims on the effects of essential oils, the use of essential oils for the prevention or cure of disease has not been approved by the FDA or usda. Products offered on this website are not intended to cure, treat or prevent any disease. Essential Oil information on this site is based on historical use of essential oils, and on own personal experiences with essential oils.